THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2019/2020

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Edinburgh College of Art : Design

Undergraduate Course: FTV 3A: Hothousing a Short Film Production (DESI10130)

Course Outline
SchoolEdinburgh College of Art CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits40 ECTS Credits20
SummaryThis course will support students in 'hothousing' a short film: putting a 4-minute film (a drama, self-shot documentary, or experimental film) through production within the timeframe of a single semester. This principle focus of this course will be on challenging students to work within their resources, exploring a direct, ongoing correlation between creative ideas and available resources (such as time and equipment). Students will be asked to develop a short film script through a series of weekly seminars, whereby they will be required to place their work within a wider cultural context, and subject their ideas to critical scrutiny. They will then put that script through production - shooting and editing the film in a single term. Whilst the focus will be on individual work, students will be expected to work collaboratively to realise their individual visions.
Course description 'Hothousing' is a film industry term used to describe a highly-focussed, tightly-resourced and time-sensitive way of working. During this course students will 'hothouse' a short film production within a single semester, focussing on working within available resources and learning how to adopt creative approaches to constraints and limitations.

This course will principally take the form of weekly, 2-hour development seminars throughout the course of the semester. Throughout the course of their productions, students will present their work at these weekly sessions and receive feedback from both lecturers and fellow classmates. A key focus will be on how we communicate our ideas as filmmakers - verbally and through supporting documentation.

Alongside these core sessions, the development of the productions will be supported by workshops and lectures in areas such as editing, drama, contemporary industrial practice, production management, technical issues, pitching.

This course focuses primarily on writing and directing. However, for those students who have already chosen a specialism (such as cinematography and production design) there will be the opportunity to work as Heads of Department. In these instances, students wishing to act as a Head of Department rather than a director will be expected to work on two of their peers' film projects. Students wishing to act as a Head of Department will bring their work along to weekly seminars (both at development and production stages) and will receive the same degree of input and support as those writing and directing their films.

By the end of this course, students will have developed a sense of their own, particular aesthetic approaches as filmmakers and will feel equipped to progress to more ambitious film productions (such as those undertaken in fourth year). Students will become familiar with the script development process and how to present their work in a professional format. Throughout the course students will develop skills in communication - asked to present their ideas in a series of different contexts - and collaboration, in realising their ideas within a group of their peers. Alongside this, students will develop sophisticated problem-solving and project management skills centred upon the relationship of creative ideas to available resources.

Whilst the focus of the course is on students' individual work, students will be expected to collaborate with their peers - both within the BA3 cohort and the wider programme - in order to realise their ambitions.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements This course is only available to students on a Degree Programme in the School of Design
Additional Costs As the focus of this course is working within available resources, students will be expected to use locations, props and actors that are readily available to them, and thus to shape productions which do not require additional costs.
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting students must have completed at least two practice-based courses that have included the production of a short film. These courses should be similar in form and content to FTV 2A and 2B; 'cinematography', 'working on a film set' and 'exploring film language'.

Visiting students should be prepared to demonstrate this level of competence through a written reference.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  18
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 400 ( Lecture Hours 6, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 37, Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 13.5, Fieldwork Hours 16, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 8, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 319 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Feedback There will be two stages of feedback:

- Formative: students will initially be required to submit a draft of their script at the end of week four, and feedback will be delivered verbally in class in week 5.

- Summative: final summative assessment feedback, upon the materials detailed above, will be given in writing within 15 working days.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Develop their own film aesthetic through the making of a short film.
  2. Demonstrate the ability to resolve project ideas within available resources (such as time and equipment).
  3. Reflect critically upon their decisions as a film practitioner and place your work within a wider context of other filmmaking work, theories of practice and relevant interdisciplinary work.
Reading List
Rabiger, Michael, 2016. Developing Story Ideas: The Power and Purpose of Storytelling, Routledge.

McKee, Robert. 1999. Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting, Methuen Film.

Tarkovsky, Andrei, 1988. Sculpting in Time: Reflections on the Cinema, University of Texas Press.
Bresson, Robert, 2017. Notes on the Cinematograph, New York Review Books Classics (New Edition). First published in 1975.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Communication; collaboration; teamwork; resource-management; script development; project management; film editing; ability to reflect critically upon practice.
Special Arrangements This course is, to a large extent, dependent on the resources of the department - such as the number of cameras, sound equipment and editing stations. This limits the number of student film productions that we are able to support within a given term, and this affects the number of students that can be involved.
KeywordsFilmmaking,short film,hothouse,collaborative practice
Contacts
Course organiserDr Jamie Chambers
Tel:
Email: jamie.chambers@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Georgia Dodsworth
Tel: (0131 6)51 5712
Email: georgia.dodsworth@ed.ac.uk
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